FLDS bigamy charges dismissed

Judge drops bigamy count for expediency

Patrick Dove/Standard-Times
Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, arrives at the Tom Green County Courthouse, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2011, in San Angelo. Jeffs put a fellow FLDS member, JD Roundy, on the stand Wednesday for nearly four hours before court was finally dismissed after 8 p.m.

Patrick Dove

SAN ANGELO, Texas - The straggling bigamy charges against already-imprisoned members of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have been dismissed.

The charges against sect leader Warren Jeffs and three other sect members were dropped after 51st District Judge Barbara Walther signed a dismissal Oct 9.

Jeffs is serving a sentence of life plus 20 years in prison in Palestine for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl, convictions handed down in San Angelo on Aug 9, 2011. He had been facing felony bigamy charges as well.

"Therefore, in the interest of judicial economy, the State moves to dismiss the indictment," the motion to dismiss reads.

The motions to dismiss all were filed with the court Sept. 27 by Assistant District Attorney Angela Goodwin.

Texas Office of the Attorney General spokesman Jerry Strickland said his office was confident that the cases could be successfully prosecuted but the trials would simply continue to tax government entities such as Schleicher County.

"It's no secret that the resources of Schleicher County and points beyond have been stretched in the last few years," Strickland said. "After getting over 120 years plus a life sentence on these four individuals, we felt is appropriate to move forward instead of putting counties, jurors and others through the process once again."

The motions say the state reserves the right to refile the charges.

Jeffs "is 56 years old and having been sentenced to Life plus 20 years in prison, will likely not be eligible for parole until the year 2046, when he is 90 years old," the motion states.

The bigamy charges were also dropped against Raymond Merril Jessop, the first FLDS member convicted of sexual assault of a child, who was found guilty and sentenced in November 2009 to 10 years in prison; against Merril Leroy Jessop, who was sentenced in March 2010 to serve 75 years in prison for sexual assault of a child; and against Abram Harker Jeffs, who was sentenced in June 2010 to serve 17 years in prison for sexual assault of a child.

None of the men have pending appeals, the motions state.

All of the charges came from a 2008 raid on the FLDS Yearning for Zion Ranch in Schleicher County, when law enforcement were responding to allegations of sexual assault that turned out to be a hoax call, but then discovered other evidence of sexual assault.

Twelve indictments came out of the raid. All but one FLDS member has been convicted and sentenced to prison. Lloyd Hammond Barlow, a doctor charged with three counts of Class B Misdemeanor for failure to report child abuse, has not been prosecuted.

Schleicher County Attorney Clint Griffin is in charge of handling the misdemeanors, and he could not be reached for comment Wednesday.